Electrical connectors are installed at numerous locations throughout an aircraft. An electrical connector may be mounted to a panel or a bulkhead of an aircraft by extending the connector through an aperture formed in the bulkhead. The electrical connector may be secured to the bulkhead by fastening a connector flange to the bulkhead using mechanical fasteners. On certain electrical connector installations, it is necessary to encapsulate the entire connector flange and the mechanical fasteners with a seal to provide a barrier against fluid transfer across the bulkhead, and/or to protect the connector and the bulkhead against corrosion.
Prior art methods of sealing electrical connectors to bulkheads include the manual application of sealant around the connector flange and around the mechanical fasteners using hand implements. Unfortunately, manual application of sealant is a laborious and time-consuming process which produces inconsistent results at different connector installations. In addition, manual application of sealant may result in a generally rough surface finish which may lead to a reduction in perceived product quality and/or actual product quality. Furthermore, if it is determined that the surface finish has the propensity to retain moisture due to curls, voids, or other surface features, it may be necessary to rework or remove the seal, and manually re-apply sealant which may have a negative impact on the process flow.
As can be seen, there exists a need in the art for a system and method of forming a seal over a connector flange in a time-efficient manner. In addition, there exists a need in the art for a system and method of forming a seal which provides a high-quality and smooth surface finish that can be consistently produced at multiple connector installations.